Fluid containers such as portable oxygen tanks are often used in hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities for use in medical procedures and patient recovery. Gauges are typically attached to the oxygen tanks to permit healthcare personnel to monitor tank contents including for malfunctions and contents depletion. Portable tanks are also used in industrial and commercial facilities, e.g., for storage of volatile and non-volatile fluids such as propane gas, nitrogen gas, hydraulic fluid, etc. under pressure for use in industrial manufacturing, processing, and fabrication. Similarly, portable tanks are used in commercial and domestic locations, including for cooking and other food preparation procedures using pressured gases that are also monitored by gauges.
Typically, gauges mounted to portable tanks, or similar fluid supply systems, provide an indication of the portable tank contents. For example, internal pressure of a portable tank may be measured by a gauge in communication with the portable tank volume. By measurement and display of internal pressure, it can be determined when internal pressure falls below a predetermined level necessary for proper use of the tank. Additionally, by providing an indication of internal pressure (e.g., pounds per square inch) of the portable tank or system, the measured pressure can be checked routinely to avert potential emergencies such as a pressure increase exceeding a safe containment rating of the associated portable tank.
By measuring and displaying internal pressure, gauges facilitate inspection of portable tanks, such as portable fire extinguisher tanks. Typically, such inspections are performed manually, and inspection of fire extinguishers located throughout a facility, e.g., such as a manufacturing plant or an office complex, or throughout an institution, e.g., such as a school campus or a hospital, may occupy one or more employees on a full time basis. Procedures for more frequent inspections are generally considered cost prohibitive, even where it is recognized that a problem of numbers of missing or non-functioning fire extinguishers may not be addressed for days or even weeks at a time, even where manpower may otherwise be available.